WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (AFP) - The White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that Greece has "worked very, very hard" at security for this month's Athens Olympics, but said it was impossible to have complete confidence in avoiding a terrorist attack.
"We believe that they really have worked very, very hard at it. Again, it's not possible to say with complete confidence that you can avoid an attack," Rice told CNN.
"It's just the nature of it. But Greece has done a lot, and we've worked very closely with them, and we're all doing everything we can to make the games safe."
"We believe that they've put enormous resources into it. In fact, we've been in very close cooperation with them for now a good deal of time. They have gone to NATO for some help. They really, I think, are doing everything that they can to make this safe games," she said.
Greece plans to mobilize 70,000 security personnel for the Games, or about seven officers for each athlete, but had hesitated to call upon foreign support to help safeguard the Olympics.
NATO is providing AWACS radar planes, intelligence sharing, a battalion trained to counter a possible chemical and biological attack and a 400-strong standby evacuation force.
The United States reportedly also plans to send 150 special agents to protect the American team.